I used to be disgusted and now I try to be amused....Sure, they fired Ryan and maybe it was justified but by any objective measure Red and Jerry would both be fired in any functional football organization. No other football franchise would keep a GM with Jerry's playoff record for this long, and Garrett is essentially an intern head coach stuck in the vortex of our Jimmy-led teams. You could make the case that among the three of them, Ryan was the least bad at his job.

MOBILE, Ala. &#8211; Reports have surfaced over the last two days that Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the main reason that defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was fired a week after the season ended was because of the defense&#8217;s lack of takeaways in 2012.

That&#8217;s not what Garrett said. In fact, that would be totally out of character for Garrett to phrase something in that manner. Garrett&#8217;s quotes were taken out of context.

How did Wade Phillips' defense rank in turnovers in Houston?
2nd in AFC in 2012
2nd in AFC in 2011

But how did Wade's defense rank when with the Cowboys?
8th in NFC in 2010
8th in NFC in 2009
15th in NFC in 2008

You're going to inject Jerry's 'meddling' into the equation? It's difficult to compare Wade's work with two different teams considering all the real variables. If you want to criticize the differences in the personnel on the field between the two teams then that's legit.

Offense should be looked at and over the last 8 games of the year did avg 28 points don't know about you but I think 28 point a game avg is pretty damn good.

Yes this offense has a lot of work to do and parts that need to be added but the offense was still more productive than a defense who could not win 3rd down battle , all to often would rush 3 men in passing situations and did not get turnover.

It was not 1 thing that hurt Ryan.

As far as I'm concerned Garrett job as HC hinges on winning and losing. I fully expect his job will be on the line this coming season if the Cowboys fail to advance into the post season then Garrett will likely be fired.

He's absolutely right. If you rank the problems that prevented this team from being better than it should have been, the turnover disparity is number one. Our pass defense was absolutely atrocious, and the main reason for that was the inability to force turnovers.

Turnovers happen when mistakes are made. Mistakes are made when forced by pressure and good technique.

Our DL are behind the trend in the NFL of swatting passes. A pass-defended is almost as good as a sack. Deflections lead to picks, hesitation, and bad decisions.

Our DB's are decent at looking back for the ball, but our tacklers don't go for the strip nearly as often as they should.

But technique only takes you so far. Dallas lacks pressure of any kind up the middle from its pass rush. That will take size and power up front. You can't take shortcuts there any more.

I rate 1-technique DT as the Cowboys biggest need in the offseason. Next would be RG, C, and RT.

Turnovers happen when mistakes are made. Mistakes are made when forced by pressure and good technique.

Our DL are behind the trend in the NFL of swatting passes. A pass-defended is almost as good as a sack. Deflections lead to picks, hesitation, and bad decisions.

Our DB's are decent at looking back for the ball, but our tacklers don't go for the strip nearly as often as they should.

But technique only takes you so far. Dallas lacks pressure of any kind up the middle from its pass rush. That will take size and power up front. You can't take shortcuts there any more.

I rate 1-technique DT as the Cowboys biggest need in the offseason. Next would be RG, C, and RT.

I agree but would also add there were many times in 3rd and long where Ryan would rush 3 never getting pressure on the QB and allowing him the time to find a target to pick up the 1st.

Seeing teams like the seahawks in the same situation they would bring the house and get after the QB even if the QB got the pass off he would be forced to throw the quick pass where the DB would come up and make the tackle before the 1st down marker.

I agree but would also add there were many times in 3rd and long where Ryan would rush 3 never getting pressure on the QB and allowing him the time to find a target to pick up the 1st.

Seeing teams like the seahawks in the same situation they would bring the house and get after the QB even if the QB got the pass off he would be forced to throw the quick pass where the DB would come up and make the tackle before the 1st down marker.

Absolutely. I believe though that Ryan didn't trust his safeties and LB's in passing situations. Take the Seattle game for example. Wilson's TD pass to Anthony McCoy happened because the LB couldn't hand coverage off to the safety.

Outside of Spencer and Ware, nobody got even close to the QB-- even on blitzes, so I think Ryan figured it would be better to replace the utterly inneffective pass rushers and blitzers with more players in coverage.

He was damned either way because the talent was overrated as normal. Six, even seven really good players aren't enough if the other four or five absolutely stink.

Absolutely. I believe though that Ryan didn't trust his safeties and LB's in passing situations. Take the Seattle game for example. Wilson's TD pass to Anthony McCoy happened because the LB couldn't hand coverage off to the safety.

Outside of Spencer and Ware, nobody got even close to the QB-- even on blitzes, so I think Ryan figured it would be better to replace the utterly inneffective pass rushers with more players in coverage.

Hatcher had come up with some good pressure in some big moments. I just think Ryan even the in the 2011 season would use 3 man rushes and they failed. Even if all you accomplish is getting the QB to throw the ball quicker it still allows the DB to come up and make the tackle before the 1st down.

Rushing 3 it allows the WR to find the soft spot and convert and they did.

I admit it is a major pet peeve of mine to sit in 3 man rushes at the very least send 4. 3 man rush is like handing the 1st down to the opposing team

I wish they kept stats on on defensive penalties that lead to opponent first downs on failed 3rd down conversions (ie jumping offsides on 3rd and 4). Those plays are the equivalent to an offensive giveaway.

That's a very good point. Too many times the opposing offense got to stay on the field after a dumb penalty on third down.

Hatcher had come up with some good pressure in some big moments. I just think Ryan even the in the 2011 season would use 3 man rushes and they failed. Even if all you accomplish is getting the QB to throw the ball quicker it still allows the DB to come up and make the tackle before the 1st down.

Rushing 3 it allows the WR to find the soft spot and convert and they did.

I admit it is a major pet peeve of mine to sit in 3 man rushes at the very least send 4. 3 man rush is like handing the 1st down to the opposing team

3-man rush usually works if you have the right three guys rushing. WIth 8 guys flooding zones it should be very hard to make a play.

But if they apply no pressure at all, like ever, then yeah I agree with you.

3-man rush usually works if you have the right three guys rushing. WIth 8 guys flooding zones it should be very hard to make a play.

But if they apply no pressure at all, like ever, then yeah I agree with you.

You have to have pressure or else the QB can pick you apart.

I don't see many 3 man rushing vs 5 to 6 blockers as a battle anyone will win very often. If you give a QB and WR time they will find a spot in the coverage to make the play.

I understand the theory of the 3 man rush and hey if your up by a couple of scores with time running out then great but this BS of rushing 3 you are not going to get pressure on the QB the vast majority of the time no matter who the defense is.

But like Dooms said they weren't getting turnovers and they weren't getting sacks.

Exactly. What killed me is normally when you put the other team in a down and distance where they must throw the ball, we just did not get after them. That is when you attack when you know the other team has to throw the ball but Ryan seldom did.